


swapping out ain't ever been a crime

by orphan_account



Category: Batman (Comics), Harley Quinn (Comics)
Genre: F/F, Heist, Pre-New 52, Wayne Enterprises, more dialogue than i ever write yikes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 16:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6572947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fill: Harley and Ivy swap personalities because of a device they steal from Wayne Enterprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	swapping out ain't ever been a crime

**Author's Note:**

> prompt me on tumblr @hoevarr or just talk whenever!   
> the title is from a justin beiber song that i dont particularly like, but was relevant.

The plan was foolproof. The duo pulled it off without a hitch. It was the aftermath they failed to plan for. 

Harley and Ivy had worked together before, but mostly on small crimes- helping each other with escapes, evasions, Pam assisting Harley in combating the Joker or hiding her during the off portions of their on-again-off-again flame- but this was bigger than they had ever done, a crime for the ages, an absolute spectacle. 

The dynamic duo (the female antiheroes, not the scantily clad bird-themed boy and the Batman) were going to pull off a heist that even the infamous Catwoman would be in awe of: stealing a prototype of a secret, high-tech, ridiculously cutting-edge device from none other than the Wayne Tech headquarters. Ivy had formulated an airtight entry-exit plan- in quick, out quicker, leaving no trace to be picked up on until they were already in the clear. It had all gone according to plan… Until it hadn’t.

Fritzing the cameras with a specially designed electronically-sensitive biochemical scrambler, Ivy using her normal toxins to divert any guards- there would be suspicion when they awoke, but for now, the women worked in peace. Harley cracked the vault where this piece of experimental tech was held. Harley had learned of its existence from the Joker, who planned to use it to cause- what else?- mass hysteria, pandemonium, chaos…. His usual schtick, Ivy thought, and had rolled her eyes when Harley told her of his plans. 

Normally, Ivy was content to just help her Harley avoid fallout, and lie low herself, but this particular device was unlike any she had ever heard of. Allegedly, it harnessed brainwaves to create changes in people’s psychological state. It endlessly fascinated Harley, who specialized in the field, and Pamela wanted it, selfishly, for her own uses.

She could alter the mindscape of anti-green groups, make a positive change for once, maybe even, though she hadn’t voiced this part to Harley, make the Joker (who in her head she had dubbed ‘the Jackass’) lay off Harley, lay off his insane and unproductive ways...

It had so much potential. 

They had retrieved the device, exited the building, and were making a getaway in Harley’s sleek red convertible before Harley noticed that she was feeling a bit… off. 

“Pam-a-lamb?” Her voice was more cautious than usual. Even and measured. “Do you think we pulled that off?” Ivy was in the passenger seat, unbuckled, which was a rare occurrence, and she had one hand thrown up in the air as her fiery hair whipped around her face in the wind. 

“Are you crazy? We were perfect!

“Well, I guess I feel a little different. But it’s good! Lighter, I think. Must be the adrenaline!” Pam smiled, closing her eyes. Harley knit her brows warily. Pam looked to be the picture of how Harley herself usually felt when they made their getaway. But this time was different. Harley felt an overwhelming urge to tell Pam to put her seatbelt on. 

“Clickit or tickit, Pam,” she said, trying to muster up a laugh. Ivy opened her eyes and looked over at her, frowning. “Normally you’re so much happier after a little outing! What’s the matter?” She clicked her belt in place and Harley glanced down at the speedometer, noticing that she was going a little slower than usual. She had a persistent, nagging feeling that something was wrong. 

By that time, even with her reduced speed, Harley had pulled into the lot of the hideout they were using, one of the many dilapidated old buildings in Gotham and its outskirts. It was an old abandoned warehouse of some kind that Ivy had refurbished and re-purposed into a greenhouse. 

She turned off the ignition, unbuckled. The belt retracted into its holder with a schling- had Harley put it on? She frowned down at it. She never did that. It took away from the proper adventure of the car-riding experience. 

“Harls? Did I do something wrong?” Harley spared a glance over at Pam, whose voice had cracked slightly, and Harley found her girlfriend’s eyes brimming with tears. 

“No! Not you, not at all,” the blonde reassured, leaning over to brush a lock of hair from her girlfriend’s face, a motion that was usually distinctly Ivy’s. Harley pulled back and spoke carefully. “Do…. do you feel… diffr’nt?” Ivy cocked her head to the side, tears no longer threatening to spill over. After a moment, she nodded. 

Harley let out a breath. “Me too.” She yanked her head covering off, smoothing the static of her hair down with her hands, and shifted in the seat slightly. Ivy chewed on a nail, and after a moment spoke slowly. “Could it have something to do with the-” she gestured vaguely with the device, clutched in her left hand. 

“The thing?” she finished. 

Harley considered. “Maybe.” She brushed a bit of her fluffy blonde bangs that had escaped her mask back from her face absentmindedly. Her eyes widened, coupled with a deep but soundless inhalation of breath, giving her the appearance of an inflating balloon. 

“Ives,” she said urgently, turning to her partner. “Do you remember what happened at the Wayne building?” She reached out, grabbing Ivy’s shoulders. 

Ivy sucked in a breath of air. “Do you mean what we thought was nothing?” Her voice was shaking slightly. Harley nodded and Ivy cast her eyes down, continued. “I’m sorry, Harls, I thought it was feedback from the electro-fritzer, but it must’ve-” she sniffed, eyes welling up. Harley could feel her heart pounding in her chest, but she stilled her expression into a stolid mask, contemplating the situation. 

After they had placed Ivy’s bio-fritzer, a sequence of corridors and noxious gas that both the women were, of course, immune to, the thunk of a guard’s body hitting the floor in the other room, he had started snoring, the click click click of the vault opening, the whoosh of cold air as the door heaved to the side, Ivy striding in and grabbing the device with her usual precision and poise, a red flash, Ivy whooping and skip-jumping out of the room, down the corridor and outside, red hair flying behind her like a streak of fire in the air, Harley striding behind her, a little slower, unusually, and twirling her hammer in her hands like a bodyguard…

She put a hand on Pamela’s thigh. Pam had, maybe subconsciously, scooted a little closer to Harley, who leaned back in the driver’s seat. Pam’s body was turned to Harley, a physical implication of her openness- Harley noted that normally, it was the other way around- 

And her eyes flew open. 

“Ives,” Harley enunciated slowly. “The red flash was… after you touched the prototype, yes?” Ivy squinted, pupils moving up, as if watching a projection just behind her eyelids. “Yes,” she concluded. “Why, what do you think?”

Harley ran a hand through her hair. “It’s meant ta change your psyche, right?” She waved a hand in the air, gesturing at nothing, and Ivy nodded, knitting her brows. “I’m just thinking… You’re a lot more giddy than ya usually are, Pam-a-lamb, and I’m….” she trailed off, biting her bottom lip, scraping off the crimson lipstick with her teeth. 

“Less?” Ivy supplied. Harley let out a breath and nodded. “Do you think we switched personalities?” Ivy considered, cocking her head to one side. 

Harley let out a dry laugh. “Explains why I’m not having very much fun.” Ivy frowned and punched Harley in the arm playfully. 

“Hey! I’m fun!” Harley rolled her eyes, chuckling. “Well, obviously,” she drew out her syllables. “You have my personality!” Ivy rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. 

“Do you think it will wear off by itself? Or will we have to re-swap, y’know? We might have to do some exper’ments…” Harley trailed off, talking to herself. 

Pam laughed. “See, this is how I know we’ve switched, because normally I would be the one all worried while you were just having a grand old time!” She smirked, leaning in. Her voice lowered. “But, I definitely know of a few experiments we can do before this wears off…” 

Harley gulped, face flaming red under the layer of white powder. “Guess tonight we’ll just have to switch,” she said breathlessly, and Pamela pulled her out of the car, laughing. 


End file.
